THE friends and family of a seriously ill little girl are holding a series of events to try and raise £10,000 to find her a cure.
Georgia Strudwick, from Purley, was diagnosed with the life-threatening neurological disorder Rett syndrome when she was two.
Georgia, who celebrated her tenth birthday on Tuesday, is not able to walk or talk. She has chronic breathing problems that make it difficult for her to sleep. She did have a machine to help her breathe at night but it didn't work and she now has to have an oxygen machine.
Her mother, Lisa, has led the fundraising for charity Cure Rett, which funds research into finding a cure for the disease.
Last Sunday, the Croham Arms in South Croydon held a fun day to help and raised £3,500.
There was a live band and several people took part in the ice bucket challenge – an internet craze where people pour a bucket of ice water over their head to raise awareness and money for motor neurone disease.
Lisa said: "I walked into the pub and there were so many people there, it was just amazing. I got upset and overwhelmed. They put on an amazing day."
On Saturday, Ms Strudwick and a team of 30 family and friends will take part in the Nuts Challenge, a gruelling 7km race with 100 obstacles.
They will have to crawl through tunnels of mud, climb 12ft walls and wade through mud waist deep in Dorking, Surrey.
"I've jumped out of a plane to raise money for Cure Rett before so this is OK," said Lisa. "I've just been overwhelmed at the amount of people who have said they will do it with us."
Between them they have raised £2,000 for Cure Rett. Lisa and her best friend, Fran Hallworth-Noble, also ran the London Marathon this year and in 2013, raising £3,500. Lisa ran the first marathon injured after hurting her leg at mile three and was determined to have another go and beat her time this year.
She said: "I kept running because there was no way I was going to stop.
"I trained for a year for this one and I beat my first time of six hours and did it in five."
Those wanting to donate money to help the Strudwick's reach their target should visit their fundraising page: www.justgiv ing.com/georgia-strudwick/
